Architect：YUDIN Design

Location：Kyiv, Ukraine; | ;

Project Year：2019

Category：Restaurants

“California has something which not every place in the world has: It has what I would call a sunny side, and I don't mean just physically, but the sunny side is a future. -

That’s why the logo of CALIFORNIA restaurant is based on the image of the rising sun, greeting guests at the entrance of the establishment. The Ukrainian designers Vladimir and Aleksandr Yudin are the authors of the interior design and brand identity of CALIFORNIA American style Asian restaurant.

Fantasizing about the sunny State of California, the founders of the studio YUDIN Design decided to combine the restaurant brand with the image of the sun, that’s why the ”O" is the center of the inscription and, at the same time, looks like a hot sun.

The Brothers Yudin decided to use a simple font that, due to the split letters, looks slightly archaic like rock hieroglyphs. Looking at this logo, any person, even without reading the word, sees the sun, no matter what language he speaks.

The design of the restaurant is made in the European style with elements of Japanese minimalism, eclecticism and interspersed with classics. For example, pay attention to the common table: a clear appeal to the Chinese restaurant culture. Moreover, it is placed between two massive columns with typical ornamentation.

The narrow common table by the bar, illuminated with yellow and turquoise lighting, suggests the idea of expensive Asian bars from James Bond movies.

A friendly atmosphere is provided by open structures: buffets, cupboards and a display case with grilled ducks. Everything is in sight, open, accessible, understandable! The twins Aleksandr and Vladimir Yudin designed the shelves, “office” chairs, tables and sofas with leather inserts, while the KATANA chairs were ordered from the studio of the famous Ukrainian interior designer Pavel Vetrov.

In general, the materials used for the interior remind both empires: Asian, which is based on the energy of nature, and American, a country of colonialists who were not afraid to master new lands and build their own well-being on their own.